


does the mirror world go on forever

by palateens



Series: Lis' Babyfic Bouquet [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Baby Fic, Early Mornings, Jewish Character, Kid Fic, M/M, Moral Lessons, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Religious Discussion, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 00:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12829398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palateens/pseuds/palateens
Summary: Justin wakes up at five am the day before Christmas to a three year old chattering next to him.





	does the mirror world go on forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [garden of succulents (staranise)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/staranise/gifts).



Justin wakes up at five am the day before Christmas to a three year old chattering next to him. 

“And I’m gonna get a pony and a big thing to make bubbles and a big cake,” his daughter, Iliana, says excitedly. 

“A cake huh?” Adam says on the other side of her. 

“Uh huh,” she says. “For the baby’s birthday.”

“What baby?” he asks. 

“Jesuess,” she says, fumbling over the name. 

“Jesus?” Adam clarifies.

“Yea,” she says. 

“Where’d you hear about him?”

“Ty’s mom.” 

“That’s what I get for letting you hang around goys,” Adam mutters. 

Justin cracks an eye open. “I heard that.” 

“You were supposed to,” he says with a laugh. 

Adam leans over Iliana to kiss him. “Morning.” 

“Morning,” Justin says softly. He wrinkles his nose. “Your breath stinks.” 

“Ew,” Iliana says with a giggle. 

“You think that’s funny, Princess?” Justin asks, pulling her to his chest. “C’mon, put your mouth where your money is honey.” 

She huffs loudly against his nose. He wrinkles it for dramatic effect. 

“You need to brush your teeth, baby girl,” Justin says. 

She shakes her head. 

“No? Why not?” he asks. 

“It’s Jesus’ birthday, we gotta sing to him and open presents. We don’t got any time for teeth brushing,” she explains. 

Justin gives a knowing look to Adam, who chuckles.

“I should fire our CLO and hire her” Adam chirps.

“Hold off on that, Holtzy,” he says. “Illi, baby, Jesus still wants you to brush your teeth.” 

She furrows her brows. “Sounds fake.” 

“We should kill Kent after Deborah,” Adam says. 

Illiana’s eyes widen intensely. “Daddy said a mean thing.”

“I know he did baby, and what do we do when someone says something mean?” Justin says, glancing at his husband. 

Illiana dutifully turns to Adam, screwing her little face in a very serious glare. “That hurt me. Don’t kill Uncle Kenny. That’s so mean.” 

Adam pouts; he gets in trouble with their daughter more than Justin does. But he tends to run his mouth more anyway. Adam kisses the top of her poof ball hair gently. 

“That was very mean of me, and I’m sorry, Princess. I shouldn’t joke about hurting people we love.” 

“Exactly,” she says with a huff. 

“Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” 

Illiana hums, tapping her finger to her chin and furrowing her brows in intense contemplation. 

“Okay,” she says. “But don’t do it ever again. Ever. Got it?”

“I promise I’ll pick my words more wisely from now on, how about that?” he asks. 

She pouts a little. “Okay, but try harder.” 

“That I can do, baby,” Adam says, nuzzling her. “I promise. Now tell me about this Jesus guy you’re so hyped up about.” 

Justin watches them in rapture, babbling back and forth about ideas and references that mostly make sense to them. He knows Iliana loves him, but reading time is their thing just like watching TV is her and Adam’s thing. Just like the three of them cook every night together. They’re making their own traditions slowly. A legacy that she’ll be able to look fondly on when she’s older and can’t always be around them. 

He can’t even imagine her going off to college. It feels like just yesterday, he was holding her for the first time—barely an hour old, tiny and begging for warmth and security. Now she’s waking them up with antics and asking for things they’d never even dreamt of. It’s like she’s already drifting away from them.   

“Wow, this magical baby sounds pretty cool, Princess,” Holster says. “I see why you’re so excited for Christmas.” 

“Uh huh,” she says with a bright smile, “and he really really wants a cake for breakfast. We gotta, Daddy, please.” 

Justin sees the glint in Adam’s eyes that says he seconds away from caving. Justin groans, stretching as he gets out of bed. 

“Why don’t we get up and make pancakes instead?” Justin offers.

Iliana frowns. “But Papa—” 

“Your papa’s right, Illi,” Adam says. “Babies can’t eat cake for breakfast. Neither you or Jesus are getting any cake this morning.” 

Illiana stands up on the bed, crossing her arms seriously. “But Daddy—” 

“He’s right, Princess,” Justin says as he picks her up. He kisses her firmly on the cheek before padding to the kitchen, Adam following a few steps behind him. 

They work on breakfast together seamlessly. Their daughter chatters about what she wants to do for Christmas from her high chair. By the time Iliana’s eaten an entire pancake, her eyes are already drooping. 

“Nap time, baby girl?” Adam asks her as he takes her out of the high chair. 

“No,” she grumbles drowsily. “No sleeping on Christmas. It’s a big birthday—” she yawns, “party.” 

“You can watch Snoopy with daddy after your nap,” Justin says. “How’s that?” 

“You too, Papa,” she says. 

“And me too,” he agrees. “We’ll watch all the Christmas specials you want together, like a family.”

She nods, resting her head on Adam’s shoulder as he carries her back to their family bed. Justin’s eyes follow them for a second before he starts to wash dishes. 

Cars are already honking outside. He can’t believe people are out today. That anyone would want to disrupt a perfect Thursday off to be out in ungodly traffic. He wonders how many of those people have kids they’re trying to get to. He wonders if it ever gets easier, that gut wrenching guilt that he could be doing more as a father but isn’t sure how. 

Maybe it’s just in his mind. But he wants Iliana to have the universe and more. Even if he doesn’t always understand what she wants or why. 

Adam comes back a minute later, resting his forehead on Justin’s shoulder, groaning.

“She wants to celebrate Christmas,” Adam says. “Like a real Jesus fucking Christ Christmas.” 

“It would seem so,” Justin says. He laughs at the irony. 

“We were raising her Jewish,” he laments. 

“We still are.” 

Adam shakes his head, grabbing a dish towel from the counter and going to work drying the dishes Justin already put on the rack. 

The room buzzes with energy and white noise coming from outside. The sun is rising over Boston. Life goes on, Justin thinks. The world keeps turning, days go by, and challenges in parenting evolve. Whether they like it or not. 

He can practically hear the half-hearted complaints Adam is currently suppressing. 

“Say it,” Justin says calmly. 

“Fourteen hours of labor, and I don’t even get to plan her Bat Mitzvah now?”

“She isn’t getting baptized tomorrow, babe,” Justin assures him. 

“Yea, I know, and you know I’ll love her no matter what. But—” he frantically waves his hands in the air. 

“You thought we were gonna have more time before she started making her own choices?”

“Fuck yes.” 

“Me too,” Justin admits. “But like it or not, she’s her own person.” 

Holster crosses his arms. He gets the same frown that Iliana had not a half an hour earlier. Justin really loves moments like this. Iliana may look more like him than Adam, but her mannerisms are all her daddy’s. She’s energetic and outgoing, even when she doesn’t want to play with others. 

“Yea, you’re right,” Adam relents.

He leans over to kiss Justin on the temple. 

“Welp, might as well brush up on the Pentateuch,” Adam says, clapping his hands. “That oughta be good for a few years.” 

“You’re a good dad,” Justin reminds him. 

Adam stops mid-wipe, staring at Justin like a deer caught in the headlights. He smiles brighter than the sunrise peeking through their apartment window. Days go by, but Holster will always make him feel twenty-two and loved. 

“Maybe,” Adam says. “But you make me better, just by being here.” 

Justin puts down the cup in his hand, not bothering to dry off as he catches one of Adam’s hands. 

“We’re a team,” Justin reminds him softly. “It goes both ways, okay?”

The way Adam kisses him in response adds two days to his life, he swears.    
“Okay,” Adam says. “We’ll get there, one day at a time.” 

That’s all they could really do. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> fic title - lyrics from Green & Gold by Lianne La Havas
> 
> This is the first in a series! Although they won't all be in the same universe, there are a lot of babyfics to come! (as you can probs tell by the title of the series lol)


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